Brain in a Vat

Hello! This is a brain in a vat prop I made for an upcoming horror photoshoot and Water competition. The water can be colored and lighting added for cool effects.

Time: 1 to 2 days (depending on clay drying)

Good For: Halloween, Sci-Fi Decoration, General Fun

Brain:

• Air Dry Clay
• Paints (Pink, Black and White) and Paintbrush
• Grocery Bag - Paper
• Masking Tape
• Breadboard Jumper Ribbon Cables
• Hot Glue Gun + Glue
• Acrylic Sealer

Vat Structure:

• Plastic Vase
• Aquarium Bubbler (with hose)
• Cardboard
• Paperboard
• Exact-O Knife
• Hot Glue Gun + Glue
• Acrylic Sealer
• Drill + Drill Bit width of bubbler hose
• Hot Glue Stick (not to be used for hot glue gun)
• Needle
• Optional: Brown Paint and Paintbrush

Vat Liquid:

• Water!
• Clear Water Gel Beads

Start off by ripping up the paper grocery bag in to smaller pieces. Roll up some of the pieces into a ball, about the size of your fist, and cover with masking tape to affix it in place. Once the ball is secure, you can move to the clay.

For the clay, start by creating long snakes of clay about 1-3 inches long. One by one, drape the clay in a squiggly pattern (can use a real brain for reference) until it covers the entire surface of the paper ball. Indent the center to create the to hemispheres of the brain. The clay will be sticky and will want to keep hold of the paper. I did my best to mirror what I did on one side on the other, but don't worry if they don't exactly match! You can stop with molding here, but I added in a second layer of clay to make the brain bigger.

Important Note: LET THE CLAY DRY COMPLETELY! This means at least 24 hours. The first time I made this brain, I didn't let it dry, and once it was put in the water for a long period of time it completely disintegrated. After the brain is dry, you are ready to paint.

For painting, I started with a layer of light gray (mixture of black and white paint). After drying, I added in a thin layer of baby pink all over the brain but NOT in the crevasses. You want to be able to tell definition and depth when the brain is in the water. Once paint is completely dry, cover in 1-2 layers of Acrylic Sealer.

Last but not least, stick in the wires wherever you want! I had wires of varying length and chose to have all but two start and end attached to the brain itself.

To prep the container, drill a hole on the side wall very close to the base of the plastic vase. You should be able to feed your bubbler tube through with a tight fit. Feed the tube until it wraps around the inside base once, then glue tube in place (inside perimeter and hole opening). Poke small holes into the tube INSIDE the vat for air bubbles to come out once filled with water. Cut the unused hot glue stick in half, and glue one half to the base of the vat vertically (it will be used to hold the brain in place in the water).

For the base and lid of the vat, measure the circumference of the vat onto the cardboard. Draw another circle about 1/2 from the outside edge of the vat circumference. Cut with an Exact-O knife along this larger edge. Repeat 10 times (10 circles). For four of the larger circles, cut the vat circumference out of the center (should look like big O's).

For the lid, glue three of the full circles and two of the O's together. Once dry, you should be able to fit (O's side down) the lid snuggly on top of the vat.

For a more finished look, draw the larger circumference of the top of the lid onto a piece of paperboard and glue down. Flat side down, measure the height of the lid and circumference. Cut a long strip of paperboard, width matching the height of the lid and length matching the circumference of the lid. Glue strip to outer side of the lid.

Optional: Once dry, paint with a dry brush a soft grain pattern onto the lid to mimic a wood effect and seal with Acrylic Sealer.

For the base, repeat the construction of the lid. With the Exact-O knife, cut a small channel into the side of the base where the tube exits the vat.

Glue the second half of the glue stick to the center of the inside of the lid vertically. As seen in the attached image, the brain should be wedged into place between the two glue sticks once placed in the vat (to prevent the brain from floating).

Last but not least, fill the base of the vat with the water gels. Place the brain inside and continue to fill vat with more gels until about a quarter of an inch from the top. Fill the vat with water until filled just below the top edge of the water gels. Plug in the bubbler, and enjoy!